Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Hi All,

HAPPY DAY!!! The engine is FINALLY back from the machinist and I cleaned it up and painted it tonight.

Tomorrow I will be installing the clutch, pressure plate, and bell housing.

I was considering installing the engine/bell housing first and then installing the transmission from under the car -OR- I could install the transmission on the engine and then install both as a unit...ANY SUGGESTIONS???

Also, the flywheel was balanced however the pressure plate was not balanced with it as a unit. Is this common (the manual says they need to be balanced as a unit? I know the clutch and throwout bearing were replaced and I believe the pressure plate was also replaced so the whole bit about marking the two and then reinstalling them in the same position is irrevelent.

I do not have the Aligning Arbor tool J-2581 so what is the best way to align the clutch and pressure plate?

The manual says "Correct alignment of the flywheel, clutch, and transmission assembly is by far the most important factor to consider for trouble free clutch
performance. Misalignment can ruin bearings, shafts, gears, and clutch parts. It can cause or contribute to all of the major clutch troubles..."

This sounds kinda scary...any advice???

Any places to lubricate while I have it apart?

Installing the powepack as a unit is always desirable because it prevents straining the clutch marcel. So I would put the thing in as a unit wherever possible.

Universal pilot shafts are available for sale and probably for rent; if you have a spare transmission you can remove and use the input shaft. You might also be able to turn a pilot from hard wood or plastic for a one-time use.

Well today was a failed attempt to install the engine. Ran into a couple of complications and one thing I learned that I will share is that any paint on the transmission round machined surface and/or any paint on the round machined surface of the bell housing will prevent the transmission and the bell housing from mating. I was unaware that the clearance was so tight so that was the first problem.

The second problem was the pilot shaft clutch installation tool I first bought would not align the clutch completely so therefore we could not the slip the input shaft of the transmission into the pilot bearing.

Also, in reading the service manual it talks about inserting a three-eighths nut in the pressure plate throw out arms during the disassembly process. The service manual does not however talk about using those same nuts to install the clutch. The problem we ran into was that if the clutch is installed on the flywheel first then there was not sufficient clearance to get the clutch fork installed in the bell housing. It seems that you have to install the clutch fork into the bell housing first, and then using the three eighths nuts inserted between the 3 throw out arms of the pressure plate housing then it will make the clutch assembly thin enough to the point where you can slide it up into the bell housing between the flywheel surface and the clutch fork.

The other problem we ran into was that one has to hold on to these 3/8 inch nuts so that they do not drop down into the pressure plate housing and get stuck inside there. On our next attempt I will use a magnet on a stick to hold on to the the nuts when we press in on the throw out arms to release the nuts

Any other tips and tricks would be most appreciated

Don't hurt yourself. Use a box or combination wrench over the clutch fingers. Pull the clutch finger down and put the nut in place using needle nose pliers. That way if you slip you won't be an amputee. This also can be done on the bench which makes putting the unit together easier.

Make sure that clutch disk will slide onto the trans input shaft splines before u do anything.

Assemble the pressure plate to the engine and align the clutch disk while the engine is out oof the car.

I always prefer to R&R engine with trans REMOVED.

In some cases where all of the front sheet metal is removed then MAYBE R&R as a unit.

I'm not real familiar with the 48's. Went out and looked at mine and it appears to have a slip yoke (splined) output shaft on the trans.

When trying install engine/trans as one unit then u mite run into problems with trans grease running out of the back of the trans unless u have a slip yoke to stick in there.

Someone else can veriffy or reffute my claim about the trans oil loss and design of the output shaft of the 48's.

>Don't hurt yourself. Use a box or combination wrench over the clutch fingers. Pull the clutch finger down and put the nut in place using needle nose pliers. That way if you slip you won't be an amputee. This also can be done on the bench which makes putting the unit together easier.

Yes...I found that the clutch/pressure plate assembly will NOT slide up into the bell housing if the pressure plate clutch fingers were not moved down and a 3/8 inch tall spacer (nuts) was placed in the gap to hold the pressure plate springs compressed. The assembly would hit the fork pivot and simply would not allow it to be placed into the bell housing. They are REALLY STRONG springs and the technique we discovered by trial (and fortunately no error) was to have my brother in law push down on one pressure plate finger (using a wood stick) at a time while I (using needle nose pliers) would insert the spacer and then he would release the pressure. I also discovered that when the clutch/pressure plate assembly was installed and torqued down that there is no gap available for the spacer to slide out and therefore it would get stuck inside the clutch/pressure plate assembly and there is NO WAY to get it dislodged. The cure will be to use a magnet to hold the nut while the finger is pressed in thus preventing the nut from dropping into the assembly. Gee...no suck mention in the Service Manual.

>Make sure that clutch disk will slide onto the trans input shaft splines before u do anything.

Good call. The Service Manual also says to lubricate the transmission splines and "stone" the splines if necessary to ensure a easy sliding of the clutch.

>Assemble the pressure plate to the engine and align the clutch disk while the engine is out of the car.

The SM has a clutch alignment tool that is both the "stick" that slips into the pilot bearing (and then the clutch disc is slid over this stick) -AND- it also has a round spacer that slips into the round opening of the bell housing thus positively centering the clutch disc. Naturally there is no such round disc so my hope is that the expensive NAPA metal clutch centering tool I bought will fit the pilot bearing snugly enough to have the centering tool stick out strait enough.

>I always prefer to R&R engine with trans REMOVED. In some cases where all of the front sheet metal is removed then MAYBE R&R as a unit.

The grille and the upper radiator support are removed so my hope is that the engine and transmission will slip into the engine bay without issue.

THANKS AGAIN!!!